


When We Finally Kiss Good Night

by remuszaneredvines



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Asexuality Spectrum, Ben is cold, Chris is chipper as always, Cold Hotel Rooms, First Kisses, M/M, Pre-Canon, Sharing a Bed, this may be an unrealistic reaction to a cold hotel room but hey! i write what i write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-08-15 02:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8039281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remuszaneredvines/pseuds/remuszaneredvines
Summary: One cold winter's night, Ben and Chris come home to a hotel room with no heat. 
Set before The Master Plan, while they were still on the road together.





	When We Finally Kiss Good Night

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the holiday song "Let It Snow"!

It was dark out and sleeting when Ben and Chris finally made a break for their car, which was sitting in the parking lot of Rochester, Indiana's City Hall. Chris got there faster, and he had the Civic cranked by the time Ben, who was trying to be mindful of frozen puddles, reached the car. The heat was blasting, and they took a moment to bask in it - Ben could tell that even Chris, who could regulate his body temperature with breathing and heartbeat exercises, felt pretty chilled. 

The drive back to the hotel was short and quiet. The two state auditors had been poring over budget spreadsheets for more than twelve hours, and they were both exhausted. Rochester was one of the worst-off towns Ben had ever been assigned to, and much of the waste was in the wages of the workers - there were just too many people working for the city’s government. People would have to be let go, and the leftover workers would have to have massive pay cuts if the town was ever going to get back on its feet. Ben hated these jobs, just because there were no greedy rich people to take down a peg, no Scooby-Doo villain to foil and suddenly everything was fixed. It was just a poorly-planned town with scared workers who had kids to feed and rent to pay. They understandably reacted to the changes with anger, which meant a lot of yelling at him. It also meant that he could never accept coffee from anyone at work other than Chris because of the likelihood that it had been spit in by multiple people. So it had been a long day, and a long week, too, but it was Thursday which meant that there was only one day until Ben could curl up in his motel bed and watch as many downloaded-from-Limewire episodes of Twin Peaks as he could stand. The thought warmed him almost as much as the three heat vents pointed toward him in the passenger seat. 

They arrived at the hotel and dashed to their room - thankfully, it was on the first floor. Chris unlocked the door and Ben stumbled in after him. The room felt almost as cold as it was outside, and Ben groaned. "Are you serious?" He headed over to the heating unit by the window - which was also letting in cold air, seeing as there were no curtains - and flipped the switches. Nothing happened. "No, no, no, no..." Hearing his sounds of despair, Chris joined him in messing with the controls, but it became clear to them both that the unit was broken. 

"God, it's so cold! How are we even supposed to sleep in here?" Ben complained, wrapping his arms around himself. 

Chris's brow furrowed, and then he pointed at Ben. "How about this? You get into your pajamas, and I will call the front desk and ask if there's anything that can be done about this."

"Yeah, okay." Ben shivered as he undressed and donned the thickest flannel pants he owned and a hoodie that probably wasn't meant to be pajamas, but whatever. He listened to Chris’s half of the conversation as he contacted the front desk on the room's phone. 

"The whole hotel? That's terrible! ... Do you know how long it'll be? ... Well, I'm sure you're doing all you can... All right. Thank you, Margaret." Chris hung up the phone and turned to Ben. "The heating unit that goes to all the rooms is broken, and with this sleet, there aren't any repair shops that can send a van out before tomorrow afternoon, when the roads clear up. It looks like we're in for a chilly night!"

"Oh my god, are you serious? It's like forty degrees in here!" Ben exclaimed, gesturing wildly around the room. "What are we supposed to do, build a campfire between our beds?"

Chris yawned, then gave a smile that was entirely too chipper for the situation. "Well, Ben, I think the only thing we can do is grin and bear it. It's only for one night, at least. By the time we get back from work tomorrow, it'll be fixed and we'll have a warm, cozy hotel room to get back to."

"Yeah, I guess. But I'm still not happy about this."

It was only about nine o'clock, but they were both tired and cold and just wanted to curl up in a warm bed. Chris, who had been brought a salad at City Hall earlier that evening by an employee (lucky guy, not having to watch out for spit or chili powder in his food), scrounged around for more blankets and some towels while Ben microwaved a Cup o' Noodles. Ben relished the warmth of the meager meal, but he was soon frowning at the bottom of the styrofoam cup. 

They both brushed their teeth and piled blankets and towels onto their respective beds, bid each other good night, and then finally got into bed. Ben shivered and moved his legs around, trying to create friction and make the sheets a little warmer. A few minutes passed, and then a large bundle fell onto Ben's legs. 

"Those are my extra blankets - I'm actually feeling quite toasty, and I think you need them more than me," said Chris's voice from the dark.

"Thanks, Chris." Ben spread them over himself, then flopped back down into the slowly warming sheets. Was Chris really not that cold? Or was he just trying to be nice? Ben thought back over their day - he himself had been grumpy since shortly after he woke up, and he hadn't been very friendly to anyone today, even though Chris had gone out of his way to bring him un-spat-in coffee and plenty of encouragement, which Ben had brushed off. He'd been a dick (more than usual, anyway), and Chris was being nice as always, and Ben needed to apologize.

"Chris?"

"Yes, Ben?"

"I've been kind of mean, I guess, today, and I'm sorry. I've just been really stressed out because of this job and I seem to take it out on you sometimes. I know I can be a jerk, and I know you'd rather be in this situation with just about anyone else, and -" Ben wasn’t sure where he was going with that, and was kind of glad when Chris clicked on the lamp between their beds and cut him off before he could make an even bigger mess than he already had.

Chris was sitting up in bed and staring Ben down. "Ben Wyatt, I can assure you that you are the only person that I would ever want to share this experience with." Chris looked utterly sincere, and Ben was caught a little off guard. 

"...Thanks, Chris."

After a silent moment, the two lay back down in their respective beds, and wished each other another 'good night'. The light was clicked off again, and they lay in silence for a while. Ben was sure Chris was asleep, but he himself was still freezing, even with the extra blankets. His teeth chattered as he lay in the darkness, and some time later (three minutes? three hours?), Ben heard Chris's voice.

"Ben, I think you'd be a lot more comfortable if you came over here."

Ben jumped. "Chris, I thought you were asleep!"

"You're cold and uncomfortable, and I can't go to sleep knowing there's something wrong. It'll ease my mind, and you'll feel better."

It didn’t take much thought for Ben to decide to take Chris up on his offer. He'd known Chris for four years and the man had always been like a six-foot-tall space heater, so why not. He carried a few of the extra blankets from his bed over to Chris's and slid in beside him, sticking to the far side of the bed. Good lord, he could already feel the heat emanating from Chris's side. How could one human being be so warm? Ben kind of wanted to move closer - he was on the very edge of the bed - but the beds were pretty small, and he didn’t want to take up too much space -

"You can move a little closer, Ben, I don't bite," Chris promised. It was dark, but Ben could imagine the utterly earnest look on Chris's face. 

"It's fine, Chris. Just go to sleep." Chris was already being especially nice to him, and Ben didn’t want to take advantage of it -

"Come on, Ben, don't give me the cold shoulder!"

Ben couldn’t help it, he broke into a grin and then a full blown laugh. The situation was so ridiculous, and yet, it was kind of nice, too. He slid over to where he could feel Chris's arm touching his, and closed his eyes. It wasn’t kind of nice, it was really nice. Ben couldn’t remember the last time he was so close to another person. Maybe a couple years ago, back when he still hooked up with people - he's not a huge fan of sex, but he usually felt a little less lonely when it was all said and done. Being beside Chris felt a little like one of those nights, but way better.

Ben was drawn out of his thoughts by a prickly feeling on the back of his neck, and he opened his eyes to find Chris looking at him. "What-" And then Chris's lips were on his.

And then it all made sense. Why he always felt bad after being mean to Chris when doing it to anyone else didn’t bother him, why he always got that little warm feeling in his chest when Chris brought him some un-spat-in weird Paraguayan coffee, why Chris's hugs felt more like home than any apartment or hotel room could ever measure up to.

The kiss was not too slow and not too fast, not too energetic - perfect, except that it was too short. When Chris pulled away, all Ben could see were his eyes, open wide and reflecting the dim streetlights outside. "Ben, I am so sorry. I should not have done that." He got out of their bed and moved over to the other one before Ben could even register what he was doing.

Ben, for whom the last minute or so had been a bit of a whirlwind, watched Chris’s figure, uncomprehending. "What? What are you doing? Get back over here!"

"Are you sure?" Chris asked, standing between the two beds.

"Yes, I'm sure. What's wrong?"

"Well, I feel like I should have asked you if it was okay before going ahead and kissing you."

"That's okay," Ben assured him. He appreciated the sentiment, but at the moment he just wanted another one of those perfect kisses. A longer one. "Now come on." Ben lifted up the covers and after a moment, he felt Chris get in beside him.

Chris stared earnestly into Ben's eyes. "Can I kiss you?"

The 'yes' was almost out of Ben's mouth before Chris finished the question.

Chris grinned, and their lips met again. It felt almost like a shock to Ben. He'd kissed people before, but he'd never felt the kind of warmth that seemed to pass through the two of them while kissing anyone else. Those other kisses always felt wrong, but this one - this one felt right.

The kisses intensified slowly (Ben was pretty sure Chris was doing it for his benefit), but soon, the two of them were wrapped up closer than ever, and the space between the sheets was heating up by an incredible amount. Chris really was a human space heater, Ben thought vaguely. Ben was breathing kind of hard, and even Chris seemed a little breathless when he broke it off and asked,

"Ben, do you want to take this further? Because I'm okay either way."

Ben took a moment to breathe and think. He was glad Chris asked, because as much as he was enjoying the making out, he really didn’t like what always seemed to come after. He usually agreed to take it farther and got it over with as quickly as possible, but if Chris was okay either way, then... "Can we just do this?"

Chris grinned. "Absolutely."

Ben started it this time, and soon there was no cold air, no scratchy blankets, just the two of them wrapped up in each other.

\--

Ben was sure Chris could kiss him for another twelve hours or so, but he himself was frankly exhausted. He and Chris had ended up on opposite sides of the bed, breathing slowly. Chris seemed comfortable and on the edge of sleep, but Ben felt like there was something missing. 

He frowned. After spending so much time wrapped up together with Chris, it felt weird to be so far away from him. Ben rolled his head to the side. There was only a foot or so of distance between them, but it felt like a mile. Chris rolled over to face Ben, and from the glow of the streetlight outside, Ben could see that his eyes were closed. There was even less space between them now. Ben wondered… if he just slid over a little bit...

Ben turned his back to Chris and slid backwards to where he was in prime little-spoon position. Sure enough, just as Ben had been wondering, Chris's arm curled around him in an automatic cuddle-reflex, and Ben's eyes slid closed. He smiled, amused. The man was affectionate even in his-

The arm curled more tightly around him. "Good night, Ben."

Ben's eyes snapped open. "Chris! I didn't know you were still awake!

"Barely," Chris whispered from behind him. "Relax and go to sleep."

Ben settled into the embrace with a smile, and slept.

\--

In the morning, they got up as they usually did - Ben at six-thirty, and Chris a couple of hours before that so he could do his morning 5k and hit the nearest gym. While Chris was gone, the room's phone rang, with a message from the front desk assuring Ben that the heat would be back on by that afternoon. Ben shivered in the chill of the room, thanked the receptionist. Made a cup of shitty instant coffee, showered, and got dressed, and then he waited for Chris.

He returned a couple minutes before seven, and Ben was only able to wait a few moments before blurting out, "So about last night-"

Chris looked up from where he was unlacing his running shoes and stood to face Ben. "What about it?"

"Was that a...one-time thing, or..." Ben was trying his hardest to act casual, but he kind of really, really wanted Chris to say no.

Chris stared right at Ben, in that way he had that made Ben feel like he was the only person in the universe that existed. "Do you want it to be a one-time thing?"

"No," he answered, "I kind of want to do it again. Is that okay?"

Chris smiled brilliantly. "Literally nothing in the world would make me happier, Ben."

\--

**Author's Note:**

> This is the longest completed thing I've ever written, I think.


End file.
